


Black Dog Interstate

by orphan_account



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Domestic Violence, Drug Abuse, Gambling, Homophobia, M/M, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-21 02:44:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6034950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“We’re in too deep, Smith. Swirl the fear down the drain, already. It’s not….it’s not even fear, is it? It hit you too hard this time….shit.”</p><p>Breath clogged in Erwin’s throat. His mind was screaming danger over and over again, like a deadly omen. He tried to reach out to Levi and grab him by his shoulders, shaking him back and forth until the stars were aligned in his head and he understood that keeping his mouth shut was their one and only option at the moment. But his hands felt as heavy as lead, useless chunks of flesh that carried no motion. A dead low tide filled his lungs as he struggled to form coherent words, but the heat-oh the heat was too bright, too dazzling and it sent searing white daggers of agony in his clouded mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Black Dog Interstate

**Author's Note:**

> An one-shot based on the short story "Rest Stop" by Stephen King.  
> This is a gift for the ever talented, ever beautiful, Sarah. @the-eruri-in-her-eyes.tumblr.com  
> Find me at @66honeybadgers.tumblr.com

"You fucking filthy whore” the man croaked in his thick, Yankee accent. He was either drunk out of his mind, or boiling with red, crushing anger. Or worse, a deadly mixture of both. Alcohol fueled rage against the bitch that couldn’t just mind her own fucking business and act like a smart girl.

  
“Did you hear that?” Erwin barely whispered, wiping his nose on the back of his hand, to dispose of the residual white powder. The man growled and barked only feet away from them, his voice thundering from the last stall in the row.  
Fear. A cocaine induced paranoia. A merciless mid August heat that made their shirts cling to their backs, soaked in sweat. Their sun-burnt arms were glistening with perspiration, sleeves rolled up to allow more humid air to appease the swelter that made them lightheaded and dizzy.

  
“I didn’t hear shit” Levi muttered, the scowl on his face obvious. He was leaning over the toilet, snorting two generous lines of white. He couldn’t remember a time when he felt more disgusting and nauseous, but he didn’t expect this to be their last time when they hit rock bottom. The 5 dollar bill he was using to draw in the big K and some other crumpled tens was all they had left after losing that one big hand at “Harrah’s”.  
They were in big shit for the second time that month and it didn’t seem like they were about to get rich overnight any time soon. Not like those lucky three times when Erwin was using his fucking brain.

  
“How many times have I told you to behave, you bitch?” And the question was followed by a loud thud and a pathetic whimper. A woman’s voice. “The bitch is hurt” thought Levi as he moved his eyes up to Erwin. He was fidgeting. Erwin was never fidgeting. Not even when he was positively sure they will lose. Not even when they struggled to make ends meet and have the money to score at the end of the week

.  
“What the fuck is going on?” Levi hissed and shoved the five dollar bill back in his wallet. “Who is that piece of shit?”

  
Erwin didn’t know. That’s why he didn’t bother to answer. His blue eyes were covered in a cobweb of red, thin veins and he felt like he was fed a spoonful of grainy, hot sand. His tongue flicked out to run over his chapped lips.  
“I think he is—“

  
“Answer me, you fucking whore! Haven’t I told you to keep your hands at home!? I saw you looking at him! Don’t act like I am dumb”

  
Levi clenched his fists and thought “Absolutely dandy”

  
The woman started pleading.  
_“Ricky. Ricky, baby, listen to me. I never—“_

SMASH! Another explosion went off in the suffocating bathroom. It made Levi’s ears ring with residual noise of whimpers and pleas. His face was drained of color, sweat dripping down his temples and onto the filthy tiled floor. Not like Erwin was in a better state of mind.

His leg was restless, boot heel tapping on the floor. And that was only the calm before the storm. God knew what was going to happen if any of them gave in to the blinding rage of the big K.  
The releasing of anger can better any medicine under the sun. That’s what Levi used to tell himself when the red, nerve breaking rage was boiling inside of his veins, going straight to his head an crushing every little piece of rationality. It sometimes felt like he lost control of his body, being entirely engulfed by a mysterious force that only wanted blood, blood, blood.  
His head clanged and screamed bloody murder. He wanted nothing more than to rip and tear. Part of him saw a cloudy image of him bursting out of the stall and dragging the man outside by his collar, bringing him down and parting flesh with bone and leaving him in the relentless heat to burn and turn to ash.  
It was either Ricky was getting a one way ticket to the morgue, or they flee the place and never look back. “Walk the walk or talk the talk, shrimp. It doesn’t get easier than that”, he heard the uncle who raised him say, when the alcohol worked its magic on the old dog’s mind and tongue.

They were trapped in a 30” on 36” enclosure, the reek of fear and sweat mingled in a Molotov cocktail of destruction. Wetting his lips and gulping what little moisture he could find down his throat, Levi straightened up and reached for Erwin’s hand, his voice barely audible.

“Get a hold of yourself, Erwin. It’s playing up with my mind too, okay? Just….just help me think, alright?”  
Levi’s words hit him like a straight shot just between the eyes. A grunt escaped from his lips, the sound of a man who was kicked in the stomach and lost all his wind. His mind roared with nothing but white noise for a length of time he couldn’t control or understand.

“Something is wrong” he muttered.  
Sure it was. Something was terribly wrong, from the way the woman begged for forgiveness to the perpetual sound of flies buzzing in the bathroom, floating in circles above them. Have they been followed all the way from “Harrah’s”? But that couldn’t make any sense since they lost the bet. They’ve been losing bets for almost two months now. But what if this was an older business? What if someone who lost all their money in their favor decided that revenge was a dish best served cold? That could shed light on their current situation. It was almost a childish logic.  
“They found us. The pair from Dallas. They were married, sure they were. It’s a set up, Levi. Oh my God, that must be it. What if we are surrounded?” Erwin managed at last, muddy blue eyes moving to Levi. The eyes of a cornered animal.

To Levi, the words coming from Erwin meant nothing. What mattered in that very moment was the repugnant smell of pure dread coming from him. Meaningless words came and go like the wind, unintelligent sounds kicked out from a smart man. A brilliant man, truth be told.  
He studied Erwin’s ghostlike face with morbid fascination, taking in the sight of cornflower blue eyes and sharp cheekbones, matched by a beak-like nose. He found himself realizing again that Erwin simply had a face that could not be read. Even the kindest smile that stretched his full lips was bearing something menacing, a sly undertone that spoke in tongues about an adjacent threat. Levi knew all about the “dog-eat-dog” policy that most gamblers followed by heart, but Erwin took it to a whole new level. He was ruthless, telling everyone what they wanted to hear and not meaning anything.

In a fleeting moment of nostalgia, Levi saw Kenny, his late uncle, reflected in Erwin’s action, words, way of thinking. He was surprised and overwhelmed by his love for the two different men, a feeling that sometimes crushed him, always when he was least expecting it. It was a love that had nothing to do with their daily behavior toward him or the world; it was something raw, a brute phenomenon with small details that haunt you for a lifetime; the ashy smell of cigarette smoke, clouds of powerful cologne lingering after they closed the door, a hat hanging over the backrest of a chair, piles of books cramped in a small studio.  
The first one was the love of a son for a parental figure, but the latter was so fragile in its existence, that made the walls of Levi’s heart feel as frail as old paper.  
What made Levi question the true nature of his feelings for Erwin was the older man’s reaction when he, in a moment of euphoric bliss after they won a generous bet somewhere in Atlanta, lost every inhibition and kissed him as soon as they left the casino.  
He had expected Erwin to be mad at him, to call him a faggot and follow his statement with a punch in the face, but his lack of reaction was what shocked Levi the most. Erwin just stared at him with his swimming blue eyes open wide, the faintest shade of pink spreading across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. He didn’t even laugh it off, like he was supposed to. He didn’t push Levi away and left him aching and bruised inside because he made a horrible mistake.  
No, Erwin just stared at him like a deer caught in headlights and didn’t say anything. He drove them back to their rented studio apartment and spent his days as close and open to Levi as he had always been. That made Levi’s heart swell and burst because he didn’t, couldn’t understand this man who treated people with an icy cold politeness and kept them at arm’s length.  
Was he doing the same with Levi? Did Erwin strike a deal with him just to have someone watch his back when the whole business turned against them?  
If so, did that thought bother Levi?

Not at all.

He was given a chance to prove himself and what he was capable of, without starting useless fights and stirring up trouble. Erwin was the one who found him in the back alley of his block of flats, more dead than alive. After his uncle kicked the bucket and he was left behind with a horrible temper and a smart mouth, Levi decided that the only easy way to make money and put food on the table was to put his natural-born skills to good use. He fought in “The Underground”, the not-so-legal club that hosted street fights. He was good at what he was doing, naturally. His uncle didn’t raise any fools, and he was more than willing to prove that with brute force and blood.  
It was just that some days ended up horribly wrong. Like that bloody Tuesday five years ago.  
He had just defeated one of the local legends and earned himself a reputation and quite the generous sum of money. If only some losers could take defeat like men and learn their place.  
But you couldn’t teach a mad dog old tricks, and sure as hell it wasn’t the best idea to talk your way out of Big Shit, with capital letters. Not when the mad dog was foaming at the mouth and bit worse than he barked. And since a mongrel like him loved to surround with creatures his kind, Levi had no other option but to cover his ribs and face and wait for the storm to pass. He was accustomed to the agonizing sensation of minutes passing like hours when you were served a good old fashioned beating within inches of your life.  
But the fateful moment when Erwin found him, bruised and battered, seemed to come so naturally, almost like it was meant to happen, by some ironic twist of fate. He offered him a place to stay and the opportunity to make himself useful, to show that he was both brain and brawn. He was deeply, immensely grateful for that new chance at life and he had shown his loyalty without hesitation, taking his rightful place under Erwin’s wing.  
But now the situation escalated. Something very fragile was being tossed from his hands to Erwin’s and back again. And it could be easily dropped.

“You never listen, do you? Even though I am tryin’ to tell you how the things work…”

Another powerful thud, followed by a broken moan.

“You”

“Ricky, please! It hurts, you are hurting me”

“Never”

Levi locked his throat against the urge to vomit.

“LISTEN”

What followed next was the disgustingly wet sound of a fruit splitting in half. There was a high-pitched shriek ringing so intense that made Levi cover his ears and back down in one corner of the stall.

 _‘He is going to kill her. Oh God, the bastard is going to smash her head against the wall and we can’t even stand straight’_ he thought helplessly.

After what seemed like hours, Erwin’s Adam apple bobbed up and down and he spoke again in a low voice, “They’re bluffing. It’s not as bad as it seems. It’s only an act. They got back-up”  
He looked ill; his face had a yellowish sheen that made Levi’s skin crawl. Some can call it paranoia, reverse adrenaline or shellshock , but those were only elaborate words to describe being scared shitless, backed into a rathole. Erwin was looking into a dark pit and seeing something that was going to catch them both if they didn’t get a grasp on the whole deal.

Levi narrowed his eyes at him, crow’s feet cutting through the thin layer or purplish -white skin. If he could, he would have yelled at Erwin with a shrill, breaking sound, meant to shoot straight for his brain and urge him to think. It was the first time when he saw Erwin in this state of mind, rationality turned to mashed potatoes. The cocaine hit him in the chest and told him to take a flying fuck at the moon.  
Once again, he scrambled over the stained floor and made it back to his feet. Courtesy of his lithe body, Levi lunged for Erwin’s face and caught his chin in an iron grip, forcibly making him to turn his attention back to him. Gathering the broken fragments of his composure, Levi moved his lips inches away from Erwin’s and whispered drily

“We’re in too deep, Smith. Swirl the fear down the drain, already. It’s not….it’s not even fear, is it? It hit you too hard this time….shit.”  
Breath clogged in Erwin’s throat. His mind was screaming danger over and over again, like a deadly omen. He tried to reach out to Levi and grab him by his shoulders, shaking him back and forth until the stars were aligned in his head and he understood that keeping his mouth shut was their one and only option at the moment. But his hands felt as heavy as lead, useless chunks of flesh that carried no motion. A dead low tide filled his lungs as he struggled to form coherent words, but the heat-oh the heat was too bright, too dazzling and it sent searing white daggers of agony in his clouded mind.

“It’s useless. Don’t you see that’s what they want, that’s what they all want, Levi. They don’t know how to lose and oh God it’s too much already” he rasped; spit exploding from his lips and hitting Levi’s face.  
That was bad. That was incredibly bad and it only got worse by the minute. How long has it been since they were trapped? Fifteen minutes? Twenty? Not enough to drain Erwin of his dope-filled dread. And he was starting to grow restless, to make noise.

“Shush! Erwin, I swear to God. If you don’t shut up, I will—“

“You stay put, bitch. You keep your trap shut and don’t move a finger if you want to keep them all ten” Ricky growled in the same thick accent.

Levi couldn’t move. No breath. He thought that being paralyzed with fear was a metaphor that big shot directors used for their flashy movies, but he had never expected to feel this with such ferocity. The contact between his brain and his legs had been switched shut. He became hypersensitive to sounds, the click clacks of the man’s boots thundering in the small corridor that kept Erwin and him at a safe distance.

CLICK CLACK _Watch your back, kiddo_  
CLICK CLACK _I am back in town and I am twice as mean_

 _‘What if he has a gun? Oh good Lord and everything fucking holy, what if he has a gun and he will shoot through the door and that’s it !?_ ’ Levi’s mind raced with a thousand black thoughts, each screaming over the others.  
The scream bubbling up in his chest, going up his throat and holding it in a tight grip. The scream had to come out, it had to come out or else Erwin will fall catatonic and he was going to—

 _‘Baby if you gonna scream, scream with me_  
_Moments like this never last’_

That stupid old song rose above all fears and laughed at him, like this was all just a bad joke, a strange dream that couldn’t do any harm because dreams only happen at night and they spend their nights in the studio and—

The door handle went up and down in a frenzy motion. The metallic sound of the hinges being rattled and forced open blocked the man’s voice, making it sound distorted and eerie, like it came from underwater. Did they pull or push the door when they came into the bathroom? Levi couldn’t remember to save his life. The entire universe was reduced to the image of a pair of dirty green cowboy boots appearing from under the door, like Clint Fucking Eastwood came to the rescue and shot the thief back to the rival village he came from.

“Ey, the fuck are you doing there? Think you can stick your nose in my business like that, huh?” Ricky barked, and Levi could see spit flying from his lips and hitting the yellowish white door.

 _‘Disgusting’_ was the first thing that popped up in Levi’s throbbing mind, as he wiped the sweat off his palms on his black jeans . His heart was hammering in his chest and he was so utterly disorientated that he had to grapple the toilet paper dispenser to keep his balance. His breath rattled and hitched and only then did Levi realize that cocaine hit him. Hard. So hard that it seemed like he could see each and every stain of urine on the tiled floor, forming an unusual pattern, like a cheap surrealist piece of art. _‘Art gone down the shitter ha ha ha’_

“Just a minute, sir. Have to empty the bladder, I’m afraid”

And that was when Erwin’s voice hit him hard. His low, gravelly voice that gave you the impression he was always sporting a cold. The voice came over the relentless heat, like a marine breeze. It went with the lazy sounds of bees and crickets, bringing the storm with it. When he dared to look back up at Erwin, he was struck by the unyielding determination of his face. He was still sweating, muddy blonde hair sticking to his forehead, but his eyes were dark.

The cornered animal found his way through the crawling space.

“Bullshit. Think I didn’t hear you talkin’? You had some lover boy with you in there, fagfucker? Is he sucking your dick right now?” Ricky drawled, taking a step back from the door

“No, sir. I am just trying to take a piss like any other good natured fellow” Erwin stated blatantly, no inflexion in his voice.

 _‘God Almighty, you are back’_. Levi heart skipped a beat. He felt like he could either kiss or punch Erwin in that moment. Whatever came easily.

“Taking a piss my ass. Think I am dumb or what?” Ricky mumbled, swaying on his feet until his back hit the sink.  
Erwin moved his attention back to Levi, offering him a crooked smile and moving his index finger up to his lips. That was the signal to lay back and pull yourself together. The armed forces were taking over the assault.

“Fine by me” Levi mouthed and straightened up, pulling his pants higher and flipping Erwin the bird after he had done grooming himself.

“Know somethin’, prom queen? I think I want to see it myself.” Ricky was at it again.

Only that he didn’t went for the door again. He stopped two feet away from it and crouched down on the floor, knees bent and face pressed to the dirty tiles.  
Levi got quite an eyeful of bad boy Ricky. He had a square face, enclosed by red sideburns. His hooked nose made him look like a fighter who didn’t have time to learn how to keep the guard up before he took one too many sucker blows. A pair of bulgy, washed blue eyes peered up at Levi and then at Erwin, with the glimmer of shock burning inside. He only managed to open his mouth before Erwin’s leg took off, following a direct route to Ricky’s nose.  
His nose broke with a crunching sound, as if someone had stepped on a small pile of dead, dried leaves. Ricky screamed. He felt the blood running warmly down on his upper lip, as he toppled back a few steps, on his feet and hands. Constellations of black dots darkened his peripheral vision, only the absurdity of the situation and the out-and-out shock over passing the white shards of pain. Instinctively, Ricky’s hands sprung up to his bloodied nose, tapping the shattered bone.

“YOU SON OF A WHORE!” he yelled and coughed not a moment later, blood gushing into his mouth.

“Well now….” Erwin began, as composed as ever, pushing the door open and taking long, relaxed steps out of the stall. “I told you to be patient, sir. Did you need a ‘do not disturb’ sign to get the idea?”

Not a chance to back down now, not a fleeting moment of hesitation. A combat boot hit Ricky in the hard muscle of his right calf, sending another shockwave of pain in his body. He managed to crawl under the sink, looking up at Erwin with a mixture of stubbornness, pain and fear. He seemed to have gained colossal proportions as he stood in the middle of the humid corridor, rising to the ceiling like an ever watching executioner.  
Levi followed Erwin outside the stall a moment later, his eyes moving to the trail of blood from the floor to the man curled up under the sink.

“Not so very big and mean now, Ricky?” he couldn’t help but to spit out battery acid. “Thought you were playing the bad cop with your woman, didn’t you?”  
Ricky’s respiration was shallow and rapid. He closed his mouth with a snap when he realized his jaw was hanging in awe. The bastard hit him good. He had him cornered in a dark space like some kind of rabid rat that trespassed the human territory. _‘Fucking fags’_

“Oh my God, Ricky!” the shrill sound of a woman’s voice broke the tension.

She seemed hysterical when she burst out the stall, her sandals making a screeching noise that made Levi cover his ears and mutter a litany of curse words under his breath. Sweat made her brown hair stick to her skull, covering most of her face. But not the jagged cut on her forehead.

 _‘That’s where Ricky smashed her head against the wall’_ Levi thought and focused back on the man under the sink.

“I think you should tell the lady over here that you are done for today, Ricky. Tell her that you will let her drive for the rest of the trip because you are not feeling too good. What do you say?” Erwin asked and pushed the damp strands of blonde hair out of his face.

“F-Fuck you!” came Ricky’s answer, but not too convincing. Hesitating.

“Wrong answer, crap meister” Levi said and reached out under the sink, going straight for the collar of Ricky’s sleeveless shirt. He yanked the man back to his feet and stared at him with fiery eyes, that spoke of terrible things to come. ‘I am going to do to you what you did to her, big boy Ricky. Only that nobody will give half a shit about you’

“Put him down! Have you lost your mind or what !?” the woman bellowed, moving towards Levi with hell shooting out from her eyes and hands closed in tight fists. She didn’t seem to mind the fine thread of blood that was lazily running down her forehead and soaked one of her eyebrows in red. She was just as furious as Levi, swearing to bring the wrath of gods down on earth if he dared touch Ricky.

Levi was dumbfounded. Not a moment earlier, she was caught under a heavy downpour of swear words and flying fists. Now the forecast stated that Levi and Erwin were about to be swiped away by a tornado in a flowery strapless dress.

“The situation is confusing enough as it is now, madam” Erwin started in his polite salesman voice. “It isn’t any of my concerns how you and Ricky get along at home, but my partner and I don’t usually tolerate mindless violence.”

“What the fuck are you talking about, you idiot? What….WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?” she shrieked again, the sound piercing through Levi’s eardrums and making his fingers twitch. Oh, he was just aching to release the all consuming feeling that growled and barked inside of his head. Ricky was in for a great magic trick that could make all his teeth disappear.

“Look, ma’am. All we want you to do is to teach your lover man a lesson” Erwin said and threw a side glance at Levi, that didn’t last more than a moment. ‘You do your thing now, Sheriff’

“Sir, yes sir” A grin from ear to ear spread across Levi’s face as he closed the fingers of his left hand and punched Ricky straight in the groin. The blow managed to steal another hoarse cry of pain from the already tattered man, a sound that made the short hairs of Levi’s undercut stand up in a quick tang of satisfaction.

“YOU STOP THAT! DON’T YOU HIT HIM NO MORE, ASSHOLE. DID YOU HEAR ME?”

She was gradually losing her temper. If it wasn’t for Erwin’s hand that caught her wrist in a tight grip, she would have lurched forward, going straight for Levi’s throat. Blind devotion and fear went hand in hand sometimes.

“If you don’t want me to rip his ugly mug off his shoulders and play fetch with it, then stop yelling and listen to the man, lady” Levi answered drily, not bothering to look at her.

“Who are you? Why on earth are you doing this? We were….we were just talking. It’s none of your business anyway!” The woman whined and tried to break free from Erwin’s hold.  
Erwin was as still as a frozen lake. Levi watched him with fascination, taking in the way his lips articulated a logical explanation, how the lines on his forehead smoothened out to replace the anger with a hybrid form of compassion and pity. He carefully placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder; let her shed a few tears until she regained her composure. The old dog Erwin Smith who could tell a nun about what he liked to do in the bathroom when he hit puberty and discovered that the thing between his legs got stiff and pulsing at random moments and she would still pat his head and kiss his cheek with the affection of a mother.

“Let him go, Levi” the low drawl pulled Levi out of his reverie and he automatically loosened his grip on Ricky’s collar, letting him fall on his knees with a pathetic thud. He scrambled back on his feet and threw them a murderous look and the well intentioned middle finger, while his woman walked him out of the bathroom.

Sometimes, the Devil’s workshop generated more smoke than heat. Not that the outcome didn’t satisfy Levi; whatever the lady wished for, her knights in sweat-soaked shirts and dirty jeans were there to please any fair lady in danger.

“Well that was a shit storm” Levi said and curled his upper lip up in disgust when he felt his right hand sticky with Ricky’s sweat. “What a fucking pig”

“Well, now” Erwin began as he walked to the sink. He pulled up the tap and let a stream of water crash onto the porcelain like a restless tide on the rocks. He cupped his hands and gathered a handful of cold water, splashing his face with it. “I would say we did a pretty honorable job for today. We can’t force ourselves into a complete stranger’s life”

“Keep the wise lecture for later, pops. We can play the chivalry all we want. We’re still dirty poor. We also stink, if you haven’t notice. It makes me want to lock myself in one of these pigsties and throw my guts out”

At that, Erwin smiled. Not his usual “oh-jolly-what-a-nice-day-here” that he kept for the outside world, but a genuine smile of triumph. A smile that made you think he knew something you didn’t. But Levi didn’t mind. He liked following lead, he didn’t mind being surprised. When it came to what the man before him had to offer, he was willing to accept and give.  
Erwin brought his hand to the back pockets of his old denim jeans. He used long, slender fingers to fish some big piece of leather, with something noticeably thick in the middle.

 _‘A wallet’_ Levi realized with pleasant surprise as Erwin tossed it at him. When he opened it with unsure hands, his jaw went lax. There were at least five hundred bucks in there, the papers crisp and crumpled.

“Fuck me running” he muttered breathlessly. After all, every shitty day had only 24 hours, right? “Where did you get that, Smith?”

“Ricky dropped it while crawling under the sink. Unfortunately, he was in a hurry and I couldn’t give it back” Erwin droned, not a crumb of remorse in his voice

“You are a damned piece of shit, did you know that?” Levi couldn’t help the smile breaking through the rough edge of the snarky remark. He couldn’t take his eyes off Erwin either. The bloody blonde bastard had a way of making his head spin and stomach do a back flip. And Levi was sure he knew. Erwin knew the effect he had on him from the moment he outstretched his arm and help Levi get back on his feet in that dark, cold back alley.  
Erwin just smiled and pointed to the exit. The gravel grit under the heel of their boots as they walked back to Erwin’s Ford Mustang 1967. Several moments later they took off on the route again. As the endless dunes of sand stretched to the horizon and were swallowed by the dawn, Levi convinced himself that he didn’t need a straight to the point answer from Erwin. He offered him everything he needed to know by mindlessly stretching his arm behind Levi’s seat when they were going out for a late night trip, or how he would always spar with him, even though his eyes were heavy with sleep and his muscles tense. Levi could keep waiting forever if Erwin kept waking up before him and made scrambled eggs for two, although they tasted like wet cupboard. They didn’t need an official statement that could bring them together, because they were inseparable since they first met in the back of Erwin’s block of flats, bloodied knuckles and cold eyes making contact.

Behind the windshield, the sunset was reduced to a burning line of crimson that bathed the road in orange. On the radio, Jim Morrison was jamming with The Doors. His mystifying voice filled the car with the sound of an old song, a dead man singing over the years about freedom, love and an endless road to nowhere.

 _“Well I woke up this morning and I got myself a beer_  
_The future’s uncertain and the end is always near”_

Somewhere along the lines, Erwin brought his arm to Levi’s seat. Only that his fingers didn’t draw empty circles along the black leather this time. They brushed Levi’s nape and sparked a wave of gooseflesh.  
Levi rested his head against the window and allowed himself to smile.

 _“Roll, roll, roll, roll_  
_Thrill my soul”_


End file.
